Cheater
by Zaryenna
Summary: Fai wants to have a little arm wrestle with our dear Kuro-puu. Chaos ensues! "You're cheating."


_(Note: Yeah, so in school, these guys have this obsession with beating my English teacher (former Football coach) in an arm wrestle. Unfortunately, they all fail. No one can beat him. Not even The male cheerleader. So I'm watching this with my friend, and I go, "Ooh, I know who could beat Mr. English Teacher San in an arm wrestle," whisper Kurogane's name to my friend, and watch in delight as she turns beet red. She likes Kurogane. I mean, she loves Fai's personality, but who can resist Kurogane's ... eh, muscles? Not me, for at least five days a month. Anyway, add that to some classmate yelling at someone in the arm wrestle for "cheating," and I had a whole story in my head right there.)_

**Cheater  
~Zary~ **

"You're cheating."

Fai laughed merrily at the comment, without so much as faltering in strength, even for a moment. "Why, Kuro-pon, how can someone like me cheat in a game like this? This is my first time ever, you know."

"You're still cheating," I growled through clenched teeth. He was making it _impossible _to get the upper hand, and unfairly too. It wasn't like I would lose—God knows what would happen if Kurogane Suwa lost to Fai Fluorite in _anything _other than cowardly dodging opponents' attacks or running away—but the damn mage was sure making it difficult for me to win.

The mage remained silent, merely inspecting the game with sly, blue eyes.

"Don't think I can't tell," I continued. "Your wrist is locked. You're using my strength to your advantage when it's _s'pose _to be a measure of your own strength. It's cheating."

Between us, my hand was locked with his in an outrageously unfair arm wrestle. I took my eyes off it for a moment to catch a glimpse of his expression. An innocent smile decorated his carefully masked features, but knowing him, I could tell he was one breath away from bursting into laughter.

"This _is _a game of muscle, Kuro-buro, like you say. It is not a game of skill, which rules out cheating," he said as if he were explaining a confusing topic to a child. "You obviously have more physical strength than I do—which makes me wonder . . . Are you going _easy _on me, Kuro-rin?"

If saying my name every sentence just to annoy me wasn't enough, the small giggle from Sakura and the wide grin upon Syaoran's face was surely enough to quicken the rush of heat to my face. I glared at the kids, and they instantly became solemn instead of laughing like little school girls.

"This isn't fair."

But it didn't matter how many times I repeated those words, Fai always had a counter attack.

"I know you're angry, Kuro-sama," he said calmly, "so why won't you return the favor? You seem well familiarized with cheating in an arm wrestle, so why won't you reverse the situation? You would win in a heartbeat! Hyuu~"

This time, he actually said something I disagreed with completely. I thought for a long moment before speaking, all while still struggling to push his arm down to the other side and win. "It's not like that."

"Hm?"

"I _said _this arm wrestle isn't like that," I repeated. "Cheating is for _cowards_, for people who can't win on their own. I'd never want to win playing dirty, because that's even worse than _losing_ honorably."

Suddenly the mage started to exhert what little force he had, and I found my arm gradually being shoved down by centimeters per second. Damn it! Did this mean he hadn't even been trying _since the beginning_? What a disgrace! If I didn't win . . . I wanted to yell at him, now, but if I lost focus for even one second . . . In front of the kids, too? "Damn cheating," I muttered.

But at an hair away from losing—literally—his arm was suddenly down at the other side—_my _side—overpowered by the force I had been using to avoid losing. _What happened_, I wondered to myself. Then when my tensed muscle began to twitch from too much force on too little a task, I realized.

_Damn it!_

I cursed under my breath while the kids clapped. It wasn't a real victory. It left a bitter tasted in my mouth. I had _wanted _to beat him squarely—with pure strength alone. Not just handed a victory. "You let me win," I growled quietly.

An impenetrable smile, full with closed eyes and everything I hated, filled his expression instantly. "No idea what you're talking about, Kuro-sama."

. . .

Lie.

Later that night, while the children were washing the dishes, and the mage was busy "helping" them (actually, he was playing around with the water, and splashing it in their faces, and doing God knows what else to annoy them, and make them giggle like pansies _again_), I glared until he finally noticed and approached—almost as an after thought.

I wanted to say so many things as he neared, but he seemed to already know everything, even with a moment's glance.

"No, Kuro-sama," he answered the unspoken question, his smile suddenly dropping, his gaze becoming sincere and honest. "I didn't let you win. I straightened out my wrist—the "right" way, as you call it. I stopped cheating. Because you were right."

The mask had fallen. He wasn't lying.

He let the words settle in for the shortest of moments, and then easily plastered a huge grin on his face out of nowhere. "Glad you _did _finally win! My, what would have happened if you lost to _me_ in front of your own student? How humiliating that might have been, ne?"

Then he walked off, me watching him go. Smiling and laughing. Just like before. Back to his mask, when seconds ago it had slipped.

And when the words finally hit me, I smirked in response. The idiot had changed—even slightly, it was still a step forward.

And I had _smirked_, hadn't smiled. It was a _smirk _on my face right now.

Really.

_(Just another quick note. This is _severely _unedited. Seriously. I wrote this less than an hour ago, and typed it up about two minutes ago. Excuse my typos and awkwardness. I _will _fix this eventually, once it's sat around long enough. I just had to get it to my friend, and posting seemed the simplest. ;) Thanks for reading!)_


End file.
